I have been trying to keep my Cars articles contemporary, reflecting the issues that dominate today’s headlines. Conveniently, for me at least, for the last 6 months the price of gasoline has topped the list of people’s major concerns as reflected on the evening news broadcasts and more recently presidential politics. I don’t believe that the price of gas is going to go down very much, if at all. What we have to do is learn how to live in a changing world. It is likely that the dwindling supply of oil is going to make the use of petroleum based fuels obsolete. I think that we, as the major fuel burning nation of the world, have always known that this would happen. It is strange to me that we are so shocked and outraged that what many have predicted for over 30 years is finally upon us. Be that as it may or not, we are not in a position to give up gas as a fuel at the moment, so for now at least we need to play the hand that we have been dealt, and that means adjusting our lives and habits the best that we can, until such time that we can change our worlds fuelish infrastructure.

Save Gas Whenever You Can
I recently took a long trip to race my motorcycle offroad. The drive would take me from Southern California to Northern California and back, a distance of about 1,220 miles. For these trips I drive a truck with a 5.7 liter V8 engine that has nearly 400 hp, not exactly an economy car but it is what I need for these recreational trips. I decided that this would be an excellent opportunity to test some of my techniques for maximizing my fuel economy and to see just how accurate the EPA rated fuel economy of my 2007 truck is.

Change Your Driving Habits
First uload your car extra weight means more fuel burned and braking forces needed, plus its a great reason to clean out your car. Most importantly, leave plenty of time for your drive, don’t get into a hurry. They say speed kills and this is especially true with regard to gas mileage, not to mention people. Driving techniques to save gas require moderate speeds and smooth control over your vehicles acceleration and deceleration. Our highways have speed limits but what most people don’t stop to think about is that among those limits is the minimum speed limit. On most of California’s freeways you must drive at least 45 mph. You should not drive at the minimum speed limit but you also don’t have to drive at or above the maximum speed limit either. I have satellite radio and 2 IPODs so I can relax and take my own sweet time which means I also save on traffic tickets not to mention constantly looking in my rear view mirrors.

My Fuel Economy Tips
Fuel economy is at its greatest between 35 to 55 mph, at 60 mph economy starts to decline and as the speed goes beyond 60 mph fuel economy drops precipitously. Leave the AC off if you can, turn on the vent set it to outside air instead of recirculate. Accelerate slowly when merging onto the highway take a mile or more to get up to speed. Once up to speed set your cruise control at a moderate speed that you can live with, I typically drive at 60 to 65 as a good balance of economy and quick travel time. Keep to the right and watch as far ahead as possible, if you see traffic slowing ahead of you reduce your speed well beforehand. The idea is to keep your foot off of the brake and gas pedals as much as possible, reaccelerating can cost you a great deal of gas, change lanes if that will help you to keep from slowing down. Driving like this also saves on your brakes which can be expensive. Never, ever drive with one foot on each pedal, if you do your brakes will not last more than 10,000 miles and your gas mileage will suck, guaranteed. Keep a decent following distance from the car in front of you so that you don’t have to hit the brakes. If traffic ahead of me slows I prefer to tap the cruise down a few notches instead of tapping the brakes. Drive in the highest gear possible to keep your engine's RPMs low. If you come up behind a truck linger or follow for a while, they create a huge wind shadow reducing your cars wind drag to almost zero.

How Good Was My Gas Mileage
My truck has an EPA economy rating of 13-17 mpg. Most people believe that sticker advertised fuel economy is optimistic at best, so just getting 17 would seem like quite an accomplishment. I got 19 mpg for 1220 miles which included climbing up and over the 4400’ Tejon Pass twice, needless to say, I was quite pleased with my performance, it was much better than I had anticipated getting. I saved 17 gallons or $80.00 which is almost one full tank of fuel. My drive was extended by about 1.5 hours so it was like getting paid about $60 an hour...!

It's easy to do, just relax, slow down and take your time.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/